After a man shot dead five people in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel following police arrests, the mayor of the Nobel ski resort raised a black flag at the town hall as a sign of mourning. "We are all shocked and in deep mourning," said Mayor Klaus Winkler.
According to police, a 25-year-old has confessed to having shot his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, her parents and brother and her new boyfriend. Winkler said, "It has never been there before a whole family was so tragically wiped out."
The family of the victim, but also the family of the suspect had been viewed locally, said Winkler. The employer of the 19-year-olds was deeply shaken. "She was a particularly diligent girl, everyone is stunned," said the mayor.
photo gallery
7 pictures
Photo gallery: Kitzbühel in shockThe 19-year-old had ended the relationship, police said two months earlier. The act was preceded by a dispute between the two former partners in a restaurant in Kitzbühel, said a spokesman for the State Criminal Police Office. In the night of Sunday, the 25-year-old then knocked on the door of his parents' house of his ex-girlfriend. The father opened and dismissed the young man.
The suspect broke into the apartment via a balcony
The 25-year-old then went home and got a firearm, said LKA spokesman Walter Pupp. After re-arrival at the house, he killed the parents of the ex-girlfriend and her brother. The suspect had known the house well, since he had been there for a few months and lived there.
Kerstin Joensson / AP
The crime scene is under investigation
The 19-year-old, however, was in a locked apartment, to which the 25-year-old gained access via the balcony. There he shot the young woman and her new friend. Afterwards, the suspect went to the local police station and asked. He put a pistol and a knife on the counter there and said, "I've just killed five people." An autopsy will now clarify the exact cause of death of the victims and the role of the knife.
What is known about the suspect
The 25-year-old suspect, according to police had "no immediate police history" and acted out of jealousy. He had come into contact with the police many years ago, it was "minor offenses" acted. The man would be described as a "quiet person".
According to the police, the pistol belongs to the brother of the suspect, who legally possessed them and kept them in a vault. How exactly the 25-year-old should have come to the gun in the vault, is unclear. The brother is currently apparently abroad.
According to figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) attempts in Germany almost every day a man to kill his wife or ex-partner. In 2018, 123 women were killed nationwide by their spouses or ex-men, in addition to 208 murder or manslaughter attempts in partnerships.
According to a UN study, in 2017, 87,000 women worldwide were killed, including 50,000 by their partner or family members. The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the term femicide when referring to murders of women because they are women.